Warm temperatures are causing birch buds to burst, sending large amounts of pollen in the air. In Chuathbaluk, there was so much pollen, it was visible as a tornado.
After a cold winter and spring, high temperatures around the Interior prompted birch tree buds to burst, sending record-setting levels of pollen into the air.
Shishaldin Volcano is spewing ash up to 27,000 feet in sky, leading to flight cancelations.
Shishaldin Volcano also erupted last month, sending ash over the Bering Sea.
During the summer of 2019, warm water temperatures lowered the amount of dissolved oxygen in rivers and caused salmon across the state, including Mountain Village, to die before they were able to spawn.
Smoke and soot from central Alaska wildfires have afflicted the subarctic city of Fairbanks with some of the world's worst air pollution in recent days, forcing many residents indoors and prompting one hospital to set up a "clean air shelter."
A hazy shade of summer.
Local residents debated whether a massive release of spruce pollen, which accumulated on every surface—including car bonnets, picnic tables and the nearby Kachemak Bay—amounted to a “golden sheen” or a “yellow scum”. The fine dust turned the surface of the sea the colour of butter and left a bright, lemony line on shore that marked the extent of high tide and gave off a sickly sweet smell. This huge release of pollen might be yet another symptom of a rapidly changing environment.
Smoke from wildfires in Alaska could cause very unhealthy air quality conditions and low visibility over the weekend in Anchorage, the state's largest city, officials said.
The latest update put the Swan Lake fire’s size at 23,530 acres.
“Smoke concentrations will be such that they could impact public health at times, according to an advisory issued by the state Division of Air Quality.
Warm temperatures are rapidly melting snow and creating ice, which creates difficult conditions for dog mushers. Migratory birds are arriving early, and a mosquito emerged months early. Small owls dead around the Goldstream Valley that looked unusually thin.
For 300 years, glacial runoff was the major water source for Kluane Lake, flowing in by way of the Slims River. But in May 2016, Kluane Lake levels dropped precipitously. The problem was a case of "river piracy" — incredibly rare, and hugely significant. The terminus or end of the Kaskawulsh glacier had receded enough that a glacial lake that fed the Slims River suddenly drained when the glacier outflow found a new direction to a new river.
Set against the austere peaks of the Western Brooks Range, the lake, looked like it was boiling. Its waters hissed, bubbled and popped as a powerful greenhouse gas escaped from the lake bed.
Exhaust emissions from a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel docking in Juneau prompted at least 10 complaints to an Alaska regulatory agency.
A haze surrounding the hills had a distinct smell of burned wood.
Windows have been open during the record heat and the interior of the house is also full of pollen, a thin layer can be seen on the floor near windows. Everyone, even people like myself who rarely experience allergies, are feeling the effects, burning eyes, runny nose, and cough.
Spiking levels of birch pollen around much of the state are also being seen during an early spring in Anchorage this week, as doctors deal with an influx of allergy and asthma patients.
Ash from Mount Pavlof Lands in Nelson Lagoon
Air Quality will vary between Good and Unhealthy depending on wind flow and proximity to the fire.-Southcentral areas near–Willow, Wasilla, Palmer, Butte, Anchorage, and south over the Kenai Peninsula to include Cooper Landing, Kenai Keys and Skilak Lake areas.
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